Teacher training still lacking silver bullet
Sunday, 28 July 2019
OPINION: A scheme to get more teachers trained and in front of classes is dividing opinion.
On-the-job teacher training may make a career in teaching a realistic option for people who can't afford to take a year out to study.
But critics say students may suffer if they have to have lessons from trainee teachers still struggling to get to grips with the job.
An MP from each side of the house gives their views.
**Stuart Smith
National MP Kaikōura**
Expanding employment-based teacher training opportunities is promising, but must be designed carefully to be effective and to make a real difference to our teacher supply issues.
That means ensuring schools have the support they need for all trainees because, while these trainees can be used to supplement qualified teaching staff, they should not be seen as a replacement.
**READ MORE:
* On-the-job teacher training: the solution to the teacher crisis?
* One in five teacher training graduates don't work in schools**
But is it the silver bullet to our national teacher crisis, as has been suggested?
I would hesitate to go that far.
We already have on-the-job teacher training, Teach First NZ, which was formed in 2015 and which National invested in to alleviate teacher supply issues and provide more practical based training, which is needed.
As part of a $20 million boost to various initiatives to improve teacher supply, we boosted the number of TeachNZ scholarships, so more teachers would enter the classroom.
But to successfully expand further, an on-the-job teacher training programme must be responsive and cohesive, work in partnership with schools and retain participants in teaching or in wider education.
Achieving this relies on the four key success elements of the programme being adhered to: Rigorous candidate selection, programme responsiveness, effective support and mentoring and immersion in the classroom.
This means attracting and selecting high calibre applicants for the programme, who have the capability to become effective beginning teachers and leaders, particularly in schools in low socio-economic communities.
What I particularly like is that this method of training provides a more accessible route to a career in teaching for people who cannot afford to take long periods out of paid employment to study.
I think offering this as a solution to people who have previously worked in other areas but wish to re-train in education will attract some very worthy, motivated and ultimately valuable individuals to teach our future generations.
Importantly, we urgently need a way to attract more future teachers to support our existing ones, but also provide incentive for those who have left the profession to return.
The Ministry of Education's data indicates thousands of extra teachers will be needed over the next five years, and the Government's existing plans will fall short of providing this.
Urgent steps need to be taken to increase the number of people in teacher training and, while perhaps not that elusive silver bullet, this is a positive move worth pursuing.
**Priyanca Radhakrishnan
Labour List MP based in Maungakiekie**
Our children deserve an excellent education – but we can't get that unless we address the teacher shortage.
The coalition government recently funded hundreds of new places for a new employment-based teacher training programme and expanded the existing Teach First NZ programme, which enables teachers to earn while they work towards their teacher professions.
Most importantly, it's working. Under National, the number of kiwis enrolling in initial teacher education plummeted by around 40 per cent. Since 2017, the number of teachers has increased by over 1,000.
Those in the sector largely seem to be supportive of this programme. For example, Deirdre Shea - principal of Onehunga High School and President of the Secondary Principals' Association NZ - has said that it made sense to have a variety of routes into teaching, because teachers and young people are all different.
However, there does appear to be concerns expressed by some who have participated in the scheme. To get some insight into this I had a chat with my friend and fellow first-term Labour MP, Jan Tinetti.
Jan is a List MP based in Tauranga and as the former principal of Merivale School, she has first-hand experience teaching and working with teachers. To say Jan's passionate about teaching – and the education system more broadly – is putting it mildly.
Her eyes light up when she talks about anything teaching-related and she still refers to the children who attend Merivale School as 'her kids'.
Jan speaks very highly of this scheme. She tells me that it's an equitable scheme because it's getting some excellent teachers into low decile secondary schools.
She's also very supportive of the fact that they spend 60 percent of their time teaching, 40 percent of it working towards a Master's degree and that they have a high level of support throughout – even more support than those who have finished a teaching qualification and then start working.
She says the support they receive through mentorship and the fact that they are being paid while training contribute to the success of this programme. She also tells me that the programme has a high retention rate, which is definitely a good thing.
However, one size rarely fits all. As such, we must continue offering people who are interested in teaching a range of pathways to become teachers in different circumstances.